Bottle holder for bottle-washing machines



Aug. 13, 1929. AYERS 1,724,336

BOTTLE HOLDER FOR BOTTLE WASHING MACHINES Filed Sept. 24. 1928 r 27- M "W ATTORNEY]:

Patented Aug. 13, 1929.

UNITE STATES 1,724,336 rrerorrlce.

JOHN E. AYERS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.-

BOTTLE HOLDER FOR BOTTLE-WASHING MACHINES.

Application filed September 24, 1928. Serial No. 307,954

able cam tracks or the like is adapted to operate generally positively in gripping and holding the bottle to be operated upon and in releasing the same for being removed from the machine. I

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a planview of a carrier that is equipped with a set of four cups for receiving bottles that are provided with bolding mechanism in'accordance with my invention, parts of cam tracks for effecting the gripping and the releasing of the bottles being indicated diagrammatically by means of broken lines. 7

Figure 2 is an elevational View as viewed from one of the lateral ends. I

Figure 3 is a similar view on enlarged scale of one of the cups and the adjacent parts as viewed from the directionof the line of travel of the conveyor.

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line' 14 of Fig. 1, and showing part of a bottle.

Figure 5 is a plan view showing one of the cups and the holding devices in the position for holding a bottle in pendant position.

My improved bottle holder for bottle washing machines comprises as incorporated in a bottle washing machine a transversely elongated carrier body or carriage that is connected by its ends 11 to a conveyor structure of duplex form so as to be moved in parallelism with a vertical plane, and which body 10, as shown, is provided with a set of four cups 12 for receiving the bottles 13.

The conveyor, as is common, comprises an upper horizontal reach that is relatively free and accessible and a lower horizontal reach that travels in a tank that contains a cleansin solution.

The cups are charged with the bottles while traveling along the latter part of the upper horizontal reach while the conveyor is in motion, some time before reaching the end for the downward drop, and are removcd'at about the middle of said reach.

lVhen in the charging position the cups 12 are free and open. During the travel along the lower horizontal reach the gripping devices cooperate with the cups for holding the bottles in the'pendant position.

The holding or gripping mechanism involves moving parts that are operated by suitable cams. In the present, instance such movement is transverse relatively to the line of travel and the cams are indicated dia grammatically in Fig. 1 by the cam 14 at the right and the cam 15 at the left, the.

moving part being provided With suitable cooperating rolls 16.

The conveyor moves the carrier upwardly as indicated in the drawing by the arrow 17 ,and the moving part is moved to and fro laterally. I p

The cams are of track form and comprise each an inclined part or approach part that serves to effect a gradualshifting of the moving part and a. longitudinal part, in parallelism with the line of travel of the conveyor that corresponds in position. to the full lateral movement of the moving part.

Thus the right cam roll 16 is initiallyat the" full position to the right; the cups 12 are free and open for being charged with the bottles; the carrier moves forward con- 18 and pushed towards the left;- and finally the cam travelsalong the longitudinal part 19 of the cam 14, which corresponds to the fully closed position for locking the bottles.

- tinuously the cam roll is broughtinto regisf jtratlon'with the inwardly inclined ca-m part Said moving part 22 is in the form of a sliding structure that supports the cam rolls 16 by its ends and that slides in ways 23 that are provided in the body or carriage 10.

Also, the cups 12 are provided in the slide structure 22 so that as the same is moved back and forth transversely of the line of travel of the conveyor any bottles that are housed therein are carried bodily therewith.

The cups 12 are generally of conical form and are an approximate fit for the neck portion 24 of the bottle 13. WVhen in the operat ing position within the cup 12 the but-t end face 25 of the bottle may be substantially flush with the end face 26 of the bottle.

Considering details of the bottle 13, just below the end face 26 there is a circumferential recess 27 for the closure holding devices and spaced below the same is a second circumferential recess 28.

This second circumferential recess 28 is utilized for effecting the holding of the bot-- tle 13 by the holding or gripping devices to be described.

The gripping is effected by a pair of gripping members 29 that are mounted on the body 10 and. engage with the recess 28 by their opposed gripping edges 30.

Said gripping edges 30 are arranged convergent from the right towards the left and are separated by the bottle receiving space 31. Said space 31 at the wider bottle receiving end is adapted to admit the bottle freely and at the small end is too small for the passage of the bottle; Intermediate said ends the edges 30 serve to effect a gripping of the bottle to a greater or less extent, as the case may be. The parts described are constructed and arranged so that at the position of the full movement in the direction for gripping any and all bottles within the range of the machine will be positively held or gripped by the edges 30.

Such gripping, however, involves a relatively tight grip for bottles having a relatively large size for the neck and for the diameter for the recess 28.

In some cases it may be desirable to provide for some yielding of the gripping members or jaws 29. One way of doing this is to make the jaws of relatively heavy sheet metal that is bent to some extent so as to be operative as a spring under relatively severe stress or strain.

Thus the jaw member 29, as shown, comprises the horizontal part or branch 32 of a sheet metal strip that terminates in the gripping edge 30. In oif-set relation to said gripping branch 32 is'the supporting branch or part 33 that is in the form of a foot that is secured to the body 10 by means of a pair of screws 34. Intermediate the branches or parts 32 and '33 is the off-setting connecting part 35.

The walls of the cups 12 are provided with slots 36 for admitting the jaw branches 32, which are located so that the gripping edges will register with the bottle recesses 28.

As described, the cups are moved laterally, carrying the bottles therewith so that the edges 30 engage in the recess 28 along the narrower portions of the space 31, for effecting the gripping and for releasing the cups with their loads are moved in the reverse direction. Y

I claim as my invention In combination in a bottle holder for use in a bottle washing machine, a body for being moved for carrying the bottle to'be operated upon, a moving membermounted for sliding on said body and provided with a cup for receiving the neck portion of said bottle, a pair of jaw members fixedly mounted on said body and provided with gripping edges that are opposed and separated by a space for receiving said bottle neck portion, the walls of said cup being slotted for admitting said gripping edges to the bottle neck re ceiving space of said cup, and said gripping edges serving to define a wedge-shaped space so that the separating space between the edges that are in registration with said bottle I neck receiving space will change as the relative position of the cup and jaw members is" changed.

JOHN E. AYERS. 

